Voter registrations in New York state show a surge in Democrats and unaffiliated voters and far less of an increase in Republicans registering, according to data released Thursday by the state Board of Elections.

Between April 1 and Thursday (Nov. 1), the total number of registered voters in the state increased 309,647, or 2.5 percent, to 12,706,050. Democrats were up 2.5 percent, Republicans up 0.8 percent, and unaffiliated up 4.3 percent.

On a year-over-year basis — from November last year — the total registered in the state increased 243,771, or 2 percent. Democrats were up 1.7 percent, Republicans up 0.2 percent, and unaffiliated up 4.2 percent.

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This year's statewide numbers are also 1.7 percent higher than the number of registered voters from the 2016 presidential year, when there were 12,493,250.

From November to November, Broome County's increase ranked second in the state at 6.6 percent. The county added 4,393 voters. Tompkins County ranked first at 6.8 percent and added 2,975 voters.

There are currently about 129,200 registered voters in Broome, up from the 124,800 that were registered in 2017 and only slightly less than the 131,800 that were registered for the 2016 presidential election.

In Broome, Democrats were up 3.7 percent, Republicans up 1.1 percent, and unaffiliated up 6.6 percent.

Typically, midterm elections see a lower voter turnout, but a higher number of registered voters could be an indication of a higher-than-normal turnout this election.

"This isn't something we were surprised by," said Philip Grommet, commissioner of the Broome County Board of Elections. "If we look at elections from 2017 or 2015, they were higher, too, versus four years ago. I think it's just the political climate; more people are tuned in, and I think it's great — we want people to vote."

Grommet explained that this year, there was also a major Democratic primary race for governor. In 2014 in Broome, the state also had a large Democratic primary race for governor, and about 4,000 people turned out for that primary.

This year, more than 10,000 people voted in the primary election. He said the county expects another high turnout for the general election.

Tioga County currently has 33,202 registered voters, up by 711, or 2.2 percent, from 2017. The county saw a 1.1 percent increase in the number of Republicans, a 1.8 increase in the number of registered Democrats, and a 3.7 percent increase in the number of blank, or unaffiliated, voters.

Tioga County is another area where the number of total registered voters is almost identical to the 33,504 who were registered in the county for the 2016 presidential election.

Kwiatkowski explained that the increase in the number of absentee ballots is a sign that there will probably be a higher turnout. In the 2014 midterm election, the county distributed 780 absentee ballots. In 2018, the Tioga County board of elections has distributed 1,150 absentee ballots.

Tompkins County has 63,208 registered voters. The notoriously blue county saw enrollment increase by nearly 5 percent — almost 2.5 times the statewide enrollment growth. But like Chemung County, blank voters saw the largest gains here, growing 6.8 percent to 13,954. Followed by Democrats at 6.5 percent rising to 32,898, Republican enrollment in Tompkins saw a 0.2 decrease in Republican enrollment to 12,485.

“We have more active voters on our books now than we did in 2016,” said Stephen Dewitt, the Democratic commissioner at the Tompkins County Board of Elections. “You can go back as far as you want to go, and presidential election year is always the high water. This is record-setting in our county.”

The Tompkins Board of Elections says it has issued about 3,700 absentee ballots. In 2014, the last comparable election, Tompkins issued about 2,200 absentee ballots. For context, Tompkins issued about 4,200 in the 2016 presidential election.

Chemung County saw an increase of slightly above the statewide average, boosting its voter rolls by 2.5 percent for a total of 55,253 registered voters.

Blank voters saw the largest gain with 4.1 percent growth to a total of 11,825. Democrats saw a 2.3 growth in countywide enrollment with 16,839 registered, while Republicans grew 1.7 percent, well above the statewide party total of 0.2 percent. Republicans remain the dominant party in Chemung County, with 21,774 registered voters.